Saturday, June 29, 2013Nissan and the British team of Formula 1 Williams signed a partnership that they will jointly develop...Saturday, June 29, 2013WebPagehttps://www.auto-types.com/images/_autonews/2013-Nisan-Juke-Nismo_67.jpgAuto Typeshttps://www.auto-types.com/img/logo1.png24255

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Nissan and the British team of Formula 1 Williams signed a partnership that they will jointly develop future Nismo (short for Nissan Motorsports) performance models. After Infiniti demanded the help of Red Bull Racing to develop its future line of performance models, named IPL, the Japanese manufacturer Nissan plays the same card. This time it's not about the Infiniti, but about another big name in the Formula 1 world.

The British from Williams, specifically their division Williams Advanced Engineering, will provide support and technology from Formula 1 for modified Nismo models, Nissan's specialist performance models.

Currently the Nismo range includes models 370Z, Juke and anonymous March, but Nissan plans to expand the offer for the sports models in the coming years.

On the list of the Japanese is a Juke Nismo RS, much powerful than the current Juke Nismo, and perhaps the most awaited premiere, a GT-R Nismo. Considering that the partnership between Nissan and Williams, aims to deliver results as close as next year, the Juke and GT-R could be the first models to benefit from the expertise of Formula 1 racing.

However, that doesn't mean the Williams team will actually be making the new Nismo version of the GT-R, only that the F1 team and Williams Advanced Engineering are members of the group founded by Sir Frank Williams. He stated: "Williams Advanced Engineering has a history of developing world class, high-performance products and this agreement is particularly exciting because of the ambition and potential of the Nismo brand".

Nissan aims to launch one new Nismo model every year, at the very least, covering the majority of its car range. In 2013 the European markets have at long last seen the Nismo 370Z, a model that has been in US showrooms for a few years. A Nismo GT-R will follow the same trajectory in 2014 too, and a Nismo Leaf concept has also been shown as well.

"Williams have a proven history of making racing technology benefit road cars," said Shoichi Miyatani, Nismo president. "We look forward to starting this relationship during such a period of intensive product development for Nismo."

Ironically, as many have pointed out, the most famous Williams road car, the 1993-1997 Renault Clio Williams hot hatch, did not benefit form any design or engineering input from the F1 team. Instead, it simply built on the fact that Renault's engines powered the Williams F1 cars at the time. Renault Sport was responsible for developing the hot Clio's dynamics in fact.

Recently, Williams lent a hand to make the 900 HP Jaguar C-X75. They also provided the battery-hybrid system for the Audi R18 E-tron Quattro, which won Le Mans, and the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid racing car.

On another note, Renault and Nissan sporting operations are likely to share powertrains in the future, according to Renault's product chief Tom Lane.
"The costs involved in powertrain development are enormous, for example, yet we have to acknowledge that the sales volumes involved in Renaultsport (RS) and Nismo are relatively modest. Because of that I'd say there is some scope for shared powertrains in the future. There's no point in each division developing its own 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine separately, for example," said Tom Lane.